Wednesday, August 11, 2010

His Name Is Jealous (Part 3)

"For the LORD, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God." Exodus 34:14We've learned that the Lord is jealous of His deity. But He is also jealous of His glory. Every mighty act that God performs points to His glory. His actions always point to His nature and character, which is glorious as well. When we are doing things for the Kingdom, we must be careful not to congratulate ourselves. In my life, Satan seems to vacillate between shouting words of condemnation over me and whispering words of praise over me. The condemnation always leads to doing nothing at all for Jesus while the words of praise always lead me to pride. Neither is acceptable before my tender and humble Savior.It is always tricky to be part of the worship team at church. As a member, you want to know that everything sounded OK and that it was indeed worshipful. But, when a person praises you instead of God on High for the worship, it can lead to pride. On the other hand, encouragement is vital and when the congregation is silent, it can lead to feeling like your talents aren't making a difference. Perhaps there is only one solution to this: I think we want to hear that people are saying "To God's name be the glory!" We want no glory...hearing that God's name is being exalted confirms our talents.We have to daily choose not to be glory thieves. The only way I know how to do that is to walk humbly before our God. There is only room for the Almighty to have glory in any situation and I assure you, He will always receive it. Who wants to try to come against the One True God? He will reject a proud soul every time, simply because it stands in His way.What do we do with every thought of pride that tries to compete for the glory of El Qanna? I think we have to take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5)Spurgeon says, "How careful, then, should we be when we do anything for God, and God is pleased to accept our doings, that we never congratulate ourselves."Tomorrow we will talk about the Lord being jealous over his own people...one that will bring a smile to your face.

2 comments:

True! This is good stuff! This thing of being told "that was really good _________" is so hard to know what to do with. I am always reminded of Psalm 115:1"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory because of Thy lovingkindness, because of Thy truth."Keep receiving and keep sharing God's word, and to Him we'll give the glory.Barb

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Jesus longs to unveil Himself fully to those who seek Him. I am passionate about seeing Him clearly and sharing sweet truths He whispers along the way.
I love photography, my four boys, and ample amounts of coffee laced with sweet Italian cream.
So grateful to have you alongside of me on this caffeinated journey of seeking His beautiful face.